He drove to Bight Cemetery on Monday, where he found a scene that "looked like a war zone".

The Bight Cemetery near Wingham, on the NSW Mid North Coast, (Nine)The damaged gravestone of Stewart Terras' great-great grandfather. (Supplied)

Mr Terras discovered the gravestone of his great-great grandfather Donald Stewart, broken in two. Generations of his family, dating back to the early 19th century, are buried there.

"There were tyre marks around the cemetery, some going over graves, showing that a crane or excavator had been there. Some of the founding fathers of Wingham are buried at the cemetery," he said.

Mr Terras said his 95-year-old mother has been left in tears by the damage.

He and other family members have regularly visited the cemetery and found the head stones - many of which are 100 years old - in good condition until this week.

Mr Terras is demanding the council make a formal apology for the damage to the cemetery.

Other concerned people visited the cemetery throughout Monday and yesterday to check on family graves.

MidCoast Council says it will fix most of the damaged headstones at the cemetery. (Nine)

MidCoast Council has now apologised for the incident, which it says was part of a monument risk assessment program.

Officials have suspended the program and are holding a review of the incident.

The council says it will pay for repairs to 47 of the 57 headstones laid down. Restoration work will start as quickly as possible.

"The intent of the program is to protect the public and while we remain committed to this outcome, we have got the implementation of this program horribly wrong," Paul De Szell, the council's director of liveable communities, said.

A damaged monument at the Bight Cemetery in NSW. (Facebook)

The remaining 12 headstones will stay down due to health and safety concerns.

Mr De Szell said a crane had been used to lay down several headstones and monuments.

"In manoeuvring a vehicle around the cemetery it appears that it has encroached on the edge of a grave. This isn't acceptable and we apologise."

In 2016 a young girl was fatally crushed by a monument at the nearby Blackhead Bowling Club